As weather cools down, ski resorts in the tri-state area look forward to reopening this week
Both Sundown and Chestnut Mountain resorts have been closed as of last week because of high temperatures
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) - It is snow-making time at Sundown Mountain Resort in Dubuque.
“When everybody else is sleeping, they are out making snow,” Mark Gordon, general manager, said. “Going out adjusting guns, making sure that we push down the snow we are making, keeping track of the guns and making sure they work properly. There is a lot that goes into snow making.”
Sundown opened for the season on Nov. 27, but has now been closed for five days because of high temperatures last week.
“Last year we were lucky and got a lot of natural snow, it stayed cold, so we were pretty fortunate,” he mentioned. “Other years, you will make it, it will get warm, you have to make it again.”
So when Mother Nature does not do the work for them, they have to do it themselves. Gordon explained every day they stay closed, especially weekends, hit them hard.
“Weekends are very important to us,” he added. “We are a skiing and boarding nation here in Dubuque, so any time that we cannot be open is a sad thing for us, and we fight it tooth and nail.”
Across the bridge in Galena, Illinois, staff at Chestnut Mountain Resort are also in deep producing snow. They, however, have not opened at all this year.
”Seven out of ten times we are normally open by Thanksgiving, so this has been an unusual year,” Michael Murphy, the resort’s general manager, commented.
Murphy said, though, there is a good side to being closed: they are using this time to find employees to fill open positions. And they have a lot of openings.
”Normally, we have about 350 to 400 (employees) and I can say we are quite below that this time; probably at least a hundred employees short at this moment,” he explained. ”It has given us a little time to try to get some of the seasonal employees from downtown Galena that they would be losing their jobs now, you know, to at least get them on board, but we are hoping that we can maybe get some more college kids here in the next couple of weeks and help us get through our busy Christmas week.”
Staff at Sundown announced Tuesday they would be reopening on Thursday. Even though last year had been their busiest season yet, Gordon said he is hopeful they will have another successful year.
“Last year will be a tough one to match, but we have got a lot more membership now, a lot of people got into skiing and boarding, and we feel like we will have a good year,” he said.
Staff at Chestnut, on the other hand, hope to open for the season this weekend. Murphy mentioned he is excited to welcome people back to the slopes.
“One thing with as long as Chestnut has been here, we have a lot of families that have been here for many years, so you are seeing their kids, sometimes you even see the grandkids come through the property over the years,” he mentioned. “So it is a lot of fun.”
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